Possessed of less linguistic fluency than John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the Holy Father is carrying out his papal public duties almost exclusively in Italian.

VATICAN CITY — Fluency in English and other languages has long been considered a prerequisite for a pope.

Blessed Pope John Paul II arguably set the standard, learning as many as 12 languages and speaking eight of them fluently. Benedict XVI, his successor, was reputed to be fluent in seven and was particularly proficient in French, the first foreign language he learned.

But Pope Francis’ linguistic abilities are, by his own admission, significantly inferior. Apart from Spanish, his mother tongue, he knows German and Italian well, although he admits the former is rusty.

The Holy Father prefers not to publicly speak any languages other than Italian at general audiences, the summaries of which are now read by various officials in the Secretariat of State. This reluctance was also seen on Easter Day, when, after delivering his message urbi et orbi (to the city of Rome and to the world), he refrained from wishing a Happy Easter in 65 of the world’s languages — a custom begun by John Paul II.

Reasons behind this approach were revealed in a 2010 biography by Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti of then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, called El Jesuita. In it, he explains that he understands the Italian dialect of his father and maternal grandparents who came from the Piedmont region in Italy.

Then-Cardinal Bergoglio also said he understood some of the Genoa dialect of northern Italy, but that almost all of it, taught to him by one of his uncles, is “off-color” and therefore unrepeatable.

Not being his first language, Pope Francis’ Italian is naturally not perfect, but he is proficient (some have noticed common, minor mistakes in his unscripted remarks).

As for his other languages, the Pope said in the biography: “I must say that I used to speak them, but do not speak them because of lack of practice. I used to speak French fairly well, and I got along in German.”

But he added: “What has always caused the most problems for me has been English, especially the phonetics.” The reason, he said, is because he’s “tone deaf.”

Avoiding ‘Favoritism’

And yet Pope Francis even refrains from speaking his native Spanish at public events. Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi told Catholic News Service April 2 that it was “pretty clear that he wishes to not discriminate” and show any favoritism by choosing to speak some languages and not others, even his mother tongue.

“Evidently, he doesn’t think it’s necessary — either for reasons of preparation or exertion — that he personally read all the summaries in the different languages,” Father Lombardi said. This would be in line with Pope Francis’ desire for simplicity.

Some see this as a welcome development. Vatican officials now speaking in the Pope’s stead will ensure his words are properly heard and, the Vatican hopes, understood. It could also have a minor impact on the choice of future papal candidates, who will no longer be penalized for not being polyglots, if in fact this was ever regarded as a significant handicap by the cardinal electors.

On the other hand, others argue that a non-English-speaking pope means that the papal message in English-speaking areas will lose some of the immediacy and familiarity that comes with hearing English spoken by the Holy Father. In traditionally Protestant countries such as Britain, for example, the papacy and the Church continue to be seen as something foreign, and the lack of a pope who speaks English may accentuate that perception.

Comments

Why would a pope, a world leader, not wish to communicate in the current global language ? Doesn’t he wish to reach everyone ? Or is this some sort of culture wars game ?

Posted by lroy on Friday, Apr 12, 2013 8:47 AM (EDT):

English isn’t that hard to learn. Many, if not most, words have originated in other languages such as Greek. So if you know the origins of the word, it makes it easier.

Posted by lroy on Friday, Apr 12, 2013 8:46 AM (EDT):

I think we will have to learn Italian. I know some words in Spanish and I can pick out a couple of words here and there. If Pope Francis ever comes to America, he will probably have to “wing it” with his language skills.

Posted by Bruce on Monday, Apr 8, 2013 3:59 PM (EDT):

So much for having a Pope for the universal church. Was this known prior to the conclave. if so all the cardinals have let the Universal Church down. Big mistake. Almost all the problems in the Vatican are caused by Italians who think the Church is their own playground even making Italian the language of the Curia, ever tried to deal with the Secretary of State for tickets or other items, unless you speak Italian you are treated as a second citizen.

I remember traveling to Europe with my sister and her husband. In France, my brother-in-law was upset that a shopkeeper did not speak English. When our relatives from Germany visited us, not one of us could speak German. But they were not disturb. Why is it that only Americans expect everyone everywhere to speak English when few of us even try to learn another language?

Posted by Jack Perry on Saturday, Apr 6, 2013 7:53 AM (EDT):

“What has always caused the most problems for me has been English, especially the phonetics.”

Phonetics? in English? Well, a tongue-in-cheek summary of a recent article of George Weigel: “Tough. Although (cough) I know and acknowledge other tongues, I argue for only one: English.”

As for me, I incline towards Latin, but what would I know.

Posted by Gary Simmons on Friday, Apr 5, 2013 11:15 PM (EDT):

I do like his aim for simplicity here. I am puzzled why Italian and not Latin, though. Perhaps he feels Latin would just be more alienating to people than everyday Italian. I am puzzled with the idea that tone deafness is a hindrance in learning English; since Vietnamese is a tonal language, I could understand, but English doesn’t use tone that way. Nonetheless, I’m glad we have Papa Francis!

Posted by rita clark on Friday, Apr 5, 2013 8:53 PM (EDT):

I agree with most of the other comments regarding the pope’s lack of
languages. I am still not sure if he can understand English. I thought
our Archbishop Chaput said he did speak with the pope when he was still a
cardinal. He said they didn’t have any trouble understanding each other, so I was under the impression he could speak some English. I also agree
that this will not impede his papacy. He has been chosen by the Holy Spirit and will, of course, do the Father’s will in all languages.

Posted by Patti Day on Friday, Apr 5, 2013 4:03 PM (EDT):

I always liked hearing John Paul II and Benedict XVI speak English. If our current Holy Father doesn’t or cannot speak English, I’ll get over it.

Posted by Stephanie on Friday, Apr 5, 2013 3:46 PM (EDT):

There are many languages and English is very difficult to learn. Especially if one hasn’t used them in a long time (I’d imagine he studied languages years ago but has almost exclusively spoken in Spanish, living in Argentina). I did hear he speaks English, though.

Posted by Oscar on Friday, Apr 5, 2013 1:23 PM (EDT):

The tradition of the wishes spoken in several langues for Easter/Christmas is a custom started by Pope Paul VI (1963-1978). Blessed Pope John-Paul II (1978-2005) extended the langues to an extreme of 65 but it was really his predecessor Paul VI who founded this tradition as I vividly remember from watching him struggle on TV

Posted by Joseph Sciame on Friday, Apr 5, 2013 12:08 PM (EDT):

Our Holy Father speaks the language of peace and tranquillity of mind and heart, and that is what is most important. God bless him and may his language of PEACE prevail always.

Posted by Linda Cacpal on Friday, Apr 5, 2013 12:05 PM (EDT):

OK .. there’s a reason for not speaking in other languages. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be missed. And I don’t see how it can be a vote for “simplicity” at the Gen Aud .. not when the summaries are still being read by the reps from the Sec of State.

“But he added: “What has always caused the most problems for me has been English, especially the phonetics.” The reason, he said, is because he’s “tone deaf.””

How being tone-deaf could impede someone from learning a language? After some research, it is clear to me that it only affects music and not language learning.

I understand you only quote the Pope here, but it would be interesting to let him know that he has no excuse for not learning English. You then say that a non-English speaking Pope would put even more distance between Rome and English speaking catholics: With those kind of arguments, I understand why.

Best regards,
Luc Gérard

Posted by James Maney on Friday, Apr 5, 2013 10:00 AM (EDT):

On a trip to Rome a few years ago, Cardinal Bergoglio visited the Rome campus of the University of Dallas near Castel Gandolfo. {All UD students have the opportunity to do a sophomore semester in Rome, and the vast majority do so.} Whilst he was there he delivered a short address to the students, took some questions from them and had dinner with the faculty {a dinner he helped prepare}. The faculty involved reported that his conversational English was “a solid B, maybe even a B+.” This was reported in an Email the University sent to its alumni after the papal election. {I am a graduate of UD.}

In the recent past perhaps too much emphasis was placed on the various languages the pope speaks lessening the pastoral impact of the words of a pope. Now the simplicity of the message shines from Pope Francis’ words of basic Italian allowing us to take his words to heart.

Posted by Chantell on Thursday, Apr 4, 2013 8:22 PM (EDT):

I think I heard he does speak English. Does he just not speak it very well? He is such a WONDERFUL man!
Chantell Snyder

Well, how about Latin? If he used Latin, then no one could be offended.

Posted by Larry on Thursday, Apr 4, 2013 6:43 PM (EDT):

I’m curious about his degree of proficiency in Latin. The article doesn’t mention that language. I assume that since he is fluent in both Spanish and Italian, and is an old-school Jesuit, that he probably has some fluency in the Church’s official language and ancient ancestor to Italian and Spanish—but that’s just conjecture.

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